Labels

Biblegateway Verse of the Day

Top Stories Slider

God's Thoughts Towards His Children

By Benjamin H. Liles

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans
for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." -
Jeremiah 29:11, NLT

I often hear a lot of "Well God can't exist
as He's not powerful enough" or "He can't exist because He's not very
loving" or "God's just no good." The fact of the matter is we've ALL
had parents who discipline us, human ones, just like us. Regardless of
their limitations and their weaknesses we get a notion of what God is like, but according to this verse He seeks after our good ALL the time!

Consider this: if we based how we feel about God based on our
religiosity (our own works), our own beliefs or personal preferences or
even how others treat us we'd miss this one valuable point - “My
thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways
are far beyond anything you could imagine (Isaiah 55:8)." A lot of
people think and claim the Christian God is made up, a figment, but the
funny thing is this "Christian" God is based on what Hebrew prophets
wrote.

If we can't imagine His ways, His thoughts or what He
plans for us how could we ever hope to be better? A better spouse to
those we're married to, or have better hearts toward those we love, or
to be better friends to those we're friends to? It comes by express
revelation from Him to us about who He is, and He is love. It is by His
love He allowed Christ to pay for our sins. How and why?

Recall
in Genesis where God calls Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac?
Abraham did so by this thing called "Faith." God saw Abraham's faith
and considered the man righteous even though he was imperfect. So are
we imperfect but because of Christ's sacrifice for us, through our faith
in Him, we are made righteous. If we truly want and desire redemption
and restoration for our lives, our spouses and for our families and
friends we need to look to find out the truth about God; to study His
word and find out what's right and wrong. We may be in the wrong, but
God never changes for it says these two things, "I am the LORD, and I do
not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already
destroyed (Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19, NLT)."

If God is surely an
ungracious, unholy and perverted image of mankind, how is it then Jesus
Christ fulfilled His word? Recall the two previous verses I posted and
recall also that Jesus healed the blind, the sick, the lame, and
brought restoration to those who believed on Him. Add to that He also
fulfilled prophecy regarding His own death and we'd see fully His
flawless and perfect love for us. Without it we could never be
reconciled to the Father through Him. We can leave our sins, our past
and faults behind if we follow and look after Him.

I pray that
all of us can change our hearts, our minds and see what God sees. He
loves you and He loves me too. So let us do good to one another and let
our sins fall by the wayside and honor a holy and loving God.

I may have written this about how parents treat their children, but the context is actually about how God will bring and restore Israel back to her homeland in a short time. Seventy years later, under Cyrus, Israelites under him were able to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and sanctuary. It's because these men and women chose to listen to what Jeremiah said, after the fact.

"Zedekiah king of Judah sent Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. So Jeremiah gave them this letter to carry to Babylon" (Jeremiah 29:3, Expanded). Right before God tells them that He has good plans and intents for Israel, that's what we read. So, these men kept the letter Jeremiah wrote to keep them encouraged and built up during their short time in captivity in Babylon. In a mighty way, God is a parent to Israel. He called them out of Israel through Moses. He chastises and rebukes, just like a parent does. He has that right when we're His child.

Father God, I know You are holy in all You say and do. Your thoughts toward us, as Your people, are loving, right, just and pure. If only we could grasp Your ways and intents for us. We have You and Your words. You tell us what You have done in the past, and through Jesus' words we know what You will also do to those who hate You in the end. It's because those who do not know You, who choose to go their own way, refuse to see You as You truly are. They are so blinded and willful against You they don't want the same thing as You. In my heart of hearts, I want to believe You. Help me in my unbelief. My eyes have seen wondrous things by Your hand. My ears have heard amazing things from Your voice. Help me in those times where I can barely hear You so I may continue on in faith doing what You will for me. Thank You for Your promises, for Your faithfulness. I thank and praise Jesus for all that has been done. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Bethany House Book Reviews

Dani Pettrey's latest book, Blind Spot, is non-stop action smattered with tender hearted Christian moments. As I read this book I couldn't help but not put it down. I had to re-read it a couple of times to understand. everything. The one problem I had was trying to get my hand on her other two books in the series (to no avail) to understanding where she was going with this book. But that's not a real bad thing or even a concern.

Revell Book Reviews

I knew I already liked Third Day. They have so many wonderful and powerful songs. So when this opportunity came up to choose this book I had to leap at it. Granted this review could truly be biased considering I truly and absolutely love Christian music. But reading Mark Lee's account of his life--he's a founding member of Third Day, a guitarist, songwriter, father--I have to say I feel like I got a backstage pass to get to know "the guys," as musicians tend to say..